"It is a great pleasure to have all of you students gathered together for this event. I am very pleased with you all. This is the year we have the most students attending their final event. I see you are all united. I hope you enjoy your time together" Mrs. Barnes, the school chancellor addressed.
She stepped down from the podium and two student representative walked over and stood on the podium.
"For this camp, we would follow the program at the back of the map that we have with us. There are going to be two people each occupying a tent. You can go around and chose your partners now" The first student representative announced.
"We will wake up in the morning for group walk and discovery around the forest. Each group members will be announced over dinner. We will also be able to meet our special guest of honor that will be staying at this camp with us during dinner. Please, let us go ahead and prepare our tents"
"After dinner, the camp starts fully with lighting of the campfire this night. See you all"
They ended the speech and everyone dispersed. Claire grabbed Rhea and the went to pick a tent. Carter was able to join another guy that was probably from his department.
"What do you think about the camp?" Claire asked as they arranged their luggages at a corner of the small tent.
"Not bad" Rhea shrugged.
"Ain't you curious about this special guest of honor?" Claire paused and raised a brow. She was curious. Who could it be. A man or a woman? Old or young? Handsome or ugly? Her thoughts were broad.
"We will be meeting whosoever it is during dinner anyways, what is there to be curious about". Rhea replied.
"You are no fun" Claire retorted.
Rhea: "..."
"I suggest we should rest now, the event of the campfire might last till dawn. We will need strength for tomorrow" Claire suggested and Rhea nodded affirmative.
The two got in bed and laid down. After all short while, they fell into a good slumber. Hours passed and it was already evening. Claire's phone rang and the two woke up with a start. Claire picked the call seeing it was a call from Carter.
"Hey" She said in a sleepy voice.
"You are sleeping?" He asked.
"We just woke up, what is it?" Claire asked.
"Do you not know what the time says? Everyone else is out for dinner and I can't find my two girlfriends anywhere" Carter said. He feigned annoyance
"Dinner—?" Claire checked the time and nearly jumped out of bed. it was almost dinner time.
"Sorry, we will be out in while" She said hurriedly and ended the call.
"Rhea, get up! If we miss dinner, it won't be a good thing" Claire hit Rhea who kept groaning.
"Do we really have to go.." She groaned and Claire hissed.
"Ah... I did not remember to inform mum that we arrived safely already. I should call her" Rhea said.
She brought out her phone and dialed her mother's number but it was not going through. She noticed the reception was bad in the room.
"I will step out for a while, the service here is too bad" She told her friend before leaving the tent.
She walked few steps away and when she found reception, she dialed her mother's number again and this time it went through. Her mother picked at the second ring.
"Ah... thank goodness sweetheart, we have been trying to reach you!" Laura said. There was a hint of worry in her voice.
"I am sorry I did not call as soon as we reached mum, the network here is very bad" She said.
"It is no problem dear. How is Claire and Carter doing. I hope you all adjusting well in there?" Her mother asked.
"Yes we are" Rhea answered with a smile.
"That is very good to hear then"
"Yeah. Mum, I should go now, we will talk later. My regards to Daniel and Aunt Madeline" she said and ended the call.
She turned around to return to her tent but stopped on her tracks at the sound of a familiar voice.
"You can't just walk around here like you own the place just to see her" The voice said.
Curiously, Rhea turned around and saw who it was. Eris who was about to give an answer to his nagging friend suddenly went silent. Rhea stared at Eris and the latter returned the look.
"Sorry, excuse me" Rhea said and started walking away.
Eris did not seemed pleased. He could not give an answer to why she had been ignoring him. As he was about to pull her back, another person joined them. He stopped his attempt and lether go.
"I could not find you earlier, I am the one to led you on this camp" the man said. He nearly shivered under Eris cold gaze.
"Lead the way" Eris said. He was obviously not pleased the man interrupted him.
"You are so good at scaring the poor girl off" Taylor whispered to his friend as soon as their escort walked ahead of them.
"Stop whispering, and I am not doing anything of such" Eris answered.
"You are so dumb" Taylor mumbled underneath his breath earning a sharp deathly glare from his dear friend.
Rhea hurriedly walked back to her tent without turning back. She did not understand what she felt like and why she did but it was made her feel a hint of unhappiness seeing Eris and unable to talk to him.
She could not understand why that was happening to her. It was a weird feeling, one that should not happen in the first place. But she cannot stop it.
Although the two do not have anything going on between them, the times she had rode in his car made her feel like they could be friends.
It was a silly thought after all. In a way, seeing his handsome face made her blush and smile subconsciously. What is this feeling? She thought. It was so new to her and she needed to stop the unwanted feelings.
Now that he also is at this camp, Amelia is not the only person she needed to avoid, Eris and her must never cross path. He was unknowingly making her heart jumbled together.
Is she developing feelings for him unintentionally? Not possible! She thought. They have only met few times after all. She would be delusional to think so. The man in question have only viewed her as a charity case after all. In his eyes, she was only a helpless waitress, she thought. But are these really true?.
She brushed off the thoughts and entered the tent. Claire had been waiting for her impatiently.
"You came right in time" Claire said. "You should not forget to dress in comfy clothes, we might not be returning to the room after dinner till dawn after the bonfire and it's going to be very cold in the forest at night" Claire advised as she stepped out of the room. Rhea followed behind her. She forgot to dress in warm clothes.
They walked to a thatched structure that was erected as the dinning hall for the camp. They spotted Carter who signalled to them to come over. He had prepared seats for them.
They sat down and looked at the dishes before them. The locally made table was filled with beautiful delicacies.
There were French toast, tortilla chips, melty cheese, salsa and nacho toppings. Apple sausage patties topped with fried eggs, dry pancake mix with milk, eggs and chopped walnuts. Even gyro kebabs.
It was really hard to make a choice. There were lots to eat from. Rhea got a serving of simple french toast while Claire preferred Gyro kebabs. After eating, they were served freshly made fruit juice to top their meal.
"Now, it's time to introduce our special guest who will be staying at this camp to you all" A man announced using the microphone.
Everyone except Rhea raised their head to see the special being. Silence filled the place as he walked to the front. The girls couldn't help but fawn at him. He was so eye catching. A handsome godly being was in their midst. All they wanted was grab him.
"He is so beautiful" Claire said in a voice that looks like she was in a trance. Carter frowned and Rhea subconsciously raised her head.
At that moment, Eris' searching eyes fell on her and their gaze locked. She choked on her drink and coughed non stop.
"Rhea are you okay" Claire who had just returned from her day dreaming asked.
"No.. I mean yes, I am fine. Very fine" She said dropping her gaze. She didn't dare to look up again.
"It is okay dear, we should leave already, they announced it is time for the campfire now" Claire said.
'They did?' Rhea thought.
She nodded and the three stood up. They walked with the rest to make the campfire. This night was going to be a long one. Rhea thought.